Top Five Discoveries

A week after Jeremy was born I was reflecting on how precious he was – not just to me, but to all of my family and friends too. It seemed that my entire world was rejoicing that he was here. I felt deep gratitude for my parents, and truly blessed that they were here getting to know him. And it occurred to me how sad it was that Bill’s parents would never know Jeremy. Just then the distinct thought came to my mind . . . Bill’s mom does know Jeremy. And I knew it was true. That experience sparked a strong desire for me to teach my boys about their long-gone family members and the rich heritage they provided.

So I’ve been spending my late nights exploring. These are my Top 5 discoveries:

(5) Inbreeding is good!

I stumbled upon a family history web site dedicated to the most troubling family-history questions.

Question: When cousins marry cousins is it good or bad? I heard it would "set" the bad genes and cause genetic problems. It seems in the mid 1600's and 1700's this went on quite often in my family.

Answer: Finding ancestors marrying cousins should not be a concern. Inbreeding is not a bad thing. A population that inbreeds flushes out a higher proportion of deleterious genes than a population that is not inbreeding.

I think the European monarchal families (and my 9th grade Human Biology teacher) would beg to differ.

(4) It’s not just a Stump thing!

I’ve posted it before -- the Stump family loves initials. I’ve been teasing Bill about his grandfather completing and signing his marriage license as B.G. Stump. Who signs formal legal documents using only their initials?

Well, I’ve discovered that this was a trendy thing in West Virginia at the turn of the century. Hundreds and hundreds of birth, marriage, and death records with only initials! It’s a good thing the Federal Government took control, intruded into the lives of private citizens, and recorded the Federal Census using FULL NAMES!

I should keep my mouth shut! After all my teasing . . . I discovered that my 3rd great-grandfather had several children, and then lost his oldest son. Terribly grieved, he named his next child the EXACT SAME NAME as the child that died. A few years later his second son died. The next child was named the EXACT SAME NAME. I discovered that tracing initials is easier!

(3) Did You Mean: Magic Stump Remover?

Wow! The Stump family lineage is documented back into the 1400’s. The trouble is that I only have names and dates. I want to know what they were doing when Henry VIII was killing his male-barren wives and Columbus was spreading the measles. Search engines are no help. When I Google any form of my question the response is Did You Mean: Stump Removal Instructions, Kill a Tree Stump, Stump Burning, or Magic Stump Remover?

(2) Just because THEY WERE!

I’m now a fan of skeletons in the closet! When I first read my Barnes/Clegg family history compiled by my grandma, I was outraged at the story depicting how my great-great grandfather hated “the Chinese.” OK, I understand that they were different-looking immigrants who couldn’t speak English, and were taking all of the manual labor mining and railroad jobs for much less than the standard pay. But, that’s no excuse for an unprovoked attack and a knife cutting of the long braided queue. I was glad he spent the weekend in jail and that it took all of his (and his brothers’) money to bail him out. But, I was mad that Grandma had included this in the family history. There’s nothing respectful in it!

My mother reminded me that we don’t have to love our ancestors because of what they were. But, we must love them just because they were.

The Stump family has plenty of honorable stories. They were some of the very earliest settlers coming to America to escape religious persecution, the young George Washington surveyed their Virginia property, and they served in Washington’s Virginia militia. Great stories, but where are the skeletons? I think I figured it out. What were the Stumps and Stalnakers doing in Virginia in the mid-1700’s to mid-1800’s besides working their farms?

Ironically, the day I discovered the Slave Trade Registry and the Slave Owner Census Schedules on Ancestry.com, I also discovered their web-site ad for the newly posted England and Wales Prison Registry with the slogan Whatever they did, they’re still family!

(1) Stump males could be considered endangered!

I can count 15 Burr boys within 10 miles of my home – and that’s just my father’s descendents.

On the other hand, after four generations (possibly five), my two sons are the only humans carrying the Stump y-chromosome.

Realistically, the only useful information deemed from this discovery is that Bill and the boys are NOT closely related to any other Stumps.

I LOVE YOU STUMPS, STALNAKERS, BETTYS, AND MANGELS!